Thought I'd introduce myself. I have been lurking off and on for about a year now reading through and learning about the car until I finally took home a New-to-Me Dark Silver R53

A little background on myself - I've always had a soft spot for Mini's and eventually would want to own one, so when the opportunity came, I jumped on it.
I come from a BMW background - Previous cars include: E30 325is, E46 M3 and just recently E90 335i. Needed a slight change of scene and opted for the Mini... Looked for months until I found one to my liking. Talked to the dealer, agreed on a price for my 335i and then for the Mini... Only had it for a month and am enjoying every second driving it.


2005 Dark Silver R53 - 6 Speed Manual - Cloth Interior - 49k miles - 1 Owner Local BayArea car.

 

Great car! I have the silver version! My first mini as well I've had it for a few months now and Im in love I've already done drop tint wheels and tires the car is so much fun lol the mod bug will get to you eventually!

 

Ya luckily with this one it already had wheels, brand new tires and subtle tint in the back. Mod bug already kickin' in though as I've already ordered aero grills, coil overs, messed about with the lights and debating on which RSB to purchase this week

 

coilovers are great investment! Intake and exhaust will help too so it doesn't sound like an RC car when you step on it! I started with it looking clean now the inside is being totally changed to a track/canyon carver car! If you're ever in so cal let me know and we will ride!

 

Yes intake and exhaust are definitely on the short list... debating between that and doing audio so I can have iPod/iPhone capability but thinking I need that first before the performance. Stock Audio just isn't doing it for me to be honest

 

Alpine is great and there some DIY here on NAM there is also a hack for just an aux 3.5mm cord you plug into the back of the stock radio I don't listen to the radio much but when I do it's on 6 hour drives up to sacramento and when it doesn't have an aux cord well I just drive faster the speakers seem to be fine to me just the radio is no Bueno

 

Ya I mean its not all that bad, but not being able to be "hands free" in a sense is just an inconvenience. Ive seen the aux input route, but I figured... since I'm gonna be back there taking it apart, might as well get it replaced instead with aux already built in and save the stock radio.

 

yes that's true let me know what you end up going with! That's going to happen within the next month for me!

 

Welcome, always liked Dark Silver the best as my last 2 R53's where that color.
Let me know when your ready for the sway bar we keep them in stock.

 

Yeah, it was at the top of my color choices (followed by BRG and PW) but happy I got my first choice. I'll look into it more and let you know, but a local shop in the area can get them much cheaper. I will be in contact though for maybe the IE exhaust is the one I'm leaning towards when it comes time to do exhaust.

 

Welcome! I also just recently (last month) got a new-to-me R53 in Royal Grey Metallic, very similar to the dark silver. I'm also in the Bay Area & let me say - I'm going to personally be sticking with the stock stereo forever. I luckily have the H/K setup so it sounds decent, but my previous car (Subaru WRX) got broken into twice for aftermarket stereo-related stuff & I'm just over it. That being said, "Bay Area" is pretty vague, as I am mostly in SF & Oakland. If you're further south on the peninsula or something I'm sure that wouldn't be as much of an issue. Anyway, I really feel like the R53 is the perfect car for this area. I even convinced my GF to sell her Forester & get an R53 as well haha. Enjoy it & see 'ya around!

 

Welcome, I had so much fun in my R53. Over 77,000 trouble free miles. I kept up on all of my service and the car just rode along. Enjoy your new MINI, btw I love the wheels. Your MINI looks great.

 

Welcome to the MINIacs!

Nice looking car.

Lots of miles left on it...My 2004 R53 MC40 #24 is now up to 245000 miles

Motor on!

 

Fortunately I love in the Concord/Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill area so getting broken into Im not too worried about. I do like it, just missing the bluetooth/iPod capability. But look forward to seeing you and a bunch of other members around!

 

Zombie, thanks... I plan on doing the same and it lasting me a while. & the wheels are awesome, OZ would have been one of my choices if it had the stockers still on there

 

Wow, Motor on for sure! I'll catch up to that number one day, still plenty of years left to go though lol

 

Welcome and glad you've got a great looking MINI.

 

Congrats, " 2005 Dark Silver R53 " , great year for the R53.